nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Against Method.

Sacksian

I've toyed with starting a log here many times before but always decided against it because I presumed I'd get injured or ill (or ill-disciplined) as soon as I started one.

I've since seen a few logs that I enjoyed reading disappear and, along with the demise of the middle distance and cross country superthreads, there are very few places left for me to make essentially the same points about training over and over again.

So, here we are.

In terms of background, I've been running on and off for 10 years but only really taking it seriously (in attitude, more than application) since the end of 2012 when I joined a club. Between 2012 and now, I've managed one year of entirely uninterrupted training (2018) and one year above 2,000 miles (in 2018).

2019 has been one of my least fun running years and I'm hoping logging 2020 will make a difference and get me back to training consistently, and enjoying it.

My main focus up until March will be indoor racing (800 + 1500) before getting ready for outdoor track. However, that may change depending on how races go.

I hope to build up to 40mpw+ consistently from early January as the last few months have been a disaster. Apart from consistently doing Saturday sessions and Sunday long runs with the club, I don't have a fixed idea of what sessions during the week will look like - that will also depend on how the races go.

My last four weeks have been:

28.2 miles / 13.9 miles / 17.2 miles / 27.5 miles

Last week's 27.5 miles consisted of:

Mon - off
Tues - 34mins (just over 4miles up to PP and back)
Weds - 19mins (just under 2.5 miles around Grangegorman)
Thurs - 45mins w/20 mins at mar hr in the middle - the 20mins section is run on feel. It's supposed to be based on the HR monitor but if the HR looks a bit low, I'm not going to force it to hit a pace. When I'm fit, this should be around 6:20 or so, but this week it's 6:51 min/m pace (but it felt about right even if the HR was low).

Fri - 32mins (just over 4 miles up to PP and back)
Sat - 38mins (5 miles trails around the PP)
Sun - Attempted (but ultimately abandoned) hill session w/2miles up and down. I was planning to do a few circuits of hills around the Magazine Fort/Munich Hills in the Phoenix Park but I was blowing really hard after the first 3min circuit so I called it a day after the second shorter one. 2 x approx .5 mile with 2 mins rest in between.

---

This weekend will either be club session on the Magazine/Munichs on Saturday or Dublin Masters XC on Sunday (unlikely at this stage, due to complete unfitness).

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Sacksian

dna_leri wrote: »

Well done again.

I'd be interested to hear more about "how to run properly" ?

It's something you don't have to worry about, but I'll write something on it this week!

Sacksian

Will definitely write that post about running properly, but it's going to take time. It’s a 6-year voyage and I’m only at 2018 so far.

Training Updates

9th -15th March

Having spent the previous few weeks trying to dodge the lurgy that has been going around our house, I finally succumbed. Took it handy the whole week and logged a grand total of 4 miles (1 run).

16th-22nd

So, I know the rule of thumb is to increase training by 10% but I felt that 1,000% was a safe amount and so did 42 miles this week over 6 runs, which is back to acceptable standards. I want to get consistently over 50 during this period though.

Monday - 37mins

Tuesday - 7.5 miles w/4 steady-ish in the middle. I was a little surprised by how slow the steady-ish miles were when I looked at it later but I’m going off effort so the pace is the pace. Easing back into sessions.

Wednesday - 45mins where, for no reason in particular, there were two miles in the middle around 6:30 pace.

Thursday - 35mins, again brisker than normal.

Friday - 6 x 3m30s @LT off 1min in spikes on Polo Grounds. Originally planning to do 8 reps a little easier (the usual @MARHR) but pushed for time so did 6 @LT (current LT is probably around 5:50 pace or so). Having said that, 6th was way above LT effort and probably closer to current 5k pace. This is the sort of stuff that pushes me over the edge so need to keep in mind that the target for the next while is VOLUME. Covered about 4.3m in 27minutes in the session.

Saturday - 84mins trails in the PP. Some days long runs are just a slog for me and this was a grim slog.

Sunday OFF

UP NEXT

The good thing about doing an indoor season is that I'm going into a building phase with a decent bit of speed.

What I’m trying to do in the next while is to get fit enough to string 3.75 67s 400s back-to-back, which would mean a 1500m pb, but isn't utterly, ridiculously ambitious given current 800m fitness. And even if running 12.5 77s back to back seems a bit further away, it's helpful to have that singular focus of strength and endurance in mind.

The plan for the foreseeable future is to build up to a Tuesday (or Wednesday) BIG WORKOUT and Friday (or Saturday) HILLS. And a long run, which should get me to 50miles a week easily, and a reasonable level of fitness in the next 6-8 weeks.

For the first couple of weeks, I may just do the HILLS mid-week and substitute a saturday session + a long run for a BIG WORKOUT.

The BIG WORKOUTS I have in mind are progressive runs (by hr) in 20min blocks e.g. 110mins with 15up and down and 4x20mins progressive in the middle, finishing the progressive block close to (but under) LT and continuous long runs with portions at MARHR in the middle of them e.g 100mins with 6 x 1 mile or 7 x 1km at MARHR.

The advantage, in theory, of doing these by HR is I don’t overegg them. And I know from prior experience that, if I don’t overegg them, they work. I think if I can build up to 3 or 4 successive weeks of these AND a long run, it would be huge for me.

The HILLS sessions are going to be one of two things - a) a continuous 20minute tempo over a Munich/Magazine Figure of 8 loop (increasing quality over time) and b) building up to a continuous 20 x 180m hill session (30-40s up DA HEEL! with recovery over the Munich dips and down the other side). I suspect that 20 might be a tad overambitious but I’ll try to start with 10-12.

Anytime I have thought about doing it before I’ve managed about 5, so it would be great to get 10-12 in first at a manageable pace, build up for a couple of weeks, before having to worry about pace. Same with the continuous hilly tempo, I’ve thrown in the towel on these after a couple of minutes before.

Not too bothered about pace workouts for the moment. If club sessions restart on Saturdays, I'll join in them and keep the Wednesday sessions up until the club moves back to the Polos on Tuesdays. Mainly, fingers crossed about putting 3 weeks of 40-50miles a week together.

Sacksian

Every day feels like a week and every week a month. But this isolation stuff is definitely helping me get out early every morning for a run as I really prefer running on empty roads. 40 miles for the week.

Monday - 36mins
Tuesday - 34mins brisk (
Wed - Session: (supposed to be) Progression LR in 15min segments

Original idea was 15min w/up and then 4 progressive 15min segments in roughly 5bpm increments from 135-155 i.e. 135 for 15mins, 140 for 15mins, etc.
But I don't have the aerobic endurance for my hr to hold and I was up to 150bpm by the second 15min progressive segment (and the pace wasn't progressing). No point flogging an unfit horse, so capped it at 3 x 15min segments. Total was 11miles just over 7min pace. The plan was to have another go next week. One of the advantages of no racing is the ability to have a few attempts at sessions like this. However, with the additional restrictions. I may just run easy for the next couple of weeks.

Thursday - 22mins recovery
Friday - 49mins
Saturday - 35mins

Did my Google Maps 2KM radius on Friday to prepare for the lockdown. The phoenix park is 100m off limits so a new direction for me. Down NCR to Russell Street up Clonliffe Road and back home via Botanic Avenue/Road.

Sunday - 56mins

A slightly longer version of Saturday’s run. Down NCR in the opposite direction to my usual Park runs, up to Summerhill up through Ballybough to Clonliffe Road, down Botanic Avenue and back up Botanic Road to Cross Guns Bridge, then up the canal to Broombridge and back home via Cabra.

Would love to be able to get out for this run every day for the next two weeks but I’m going to have to see what impact the additional concrete and rolling nature of my runs have on my calves/achilles (early signs are that there might be a problem) and also how deserted it is on a working day.

Sacksian

A week where I was planning to run 56miles but ran 40 over 5 days instead.

I’m really hoping to run a mileage PB at least once during the lockdown.

The sharp downhills of Griffith Park and the concrete are unfortunately aggravating my knee (which I've never had a problem with before) so I took two days off. A work deadline also a factor.

Otherwise, it was 7-8 miles easy on the roads at 6:30am Mon-Weds, with 9 miles on Sunday and a mini-session on Saturday - having a pop at 2 Strava segments I noticed in Griffith Park.

It’s a funny little park, too small to really do any big sessions of value - so many dog walkers and dogs in a small park doesn’t lend itself to fast mile repeats but there is a sharp hill and I might attempt to do the 20 x short hills I had planned for the Park using that hill.

The two Strava segments were just over a mile and just over a k - nice to have a couple of CRs! And there’s one other non-bike assisted segment in my 2k radius that I might have a go at before this is over and I’ll more than likely have another go at these two again as well. In fact, if it wasn’t for the ridiculously sharp downhill and its impact on my knees, I could make a very decent session out of a combination of the two segments because of the elevation involved (and decent flat too).

My next-door neighbour told me that if the gates of the Phoenix Park are within your 2km radius, you are allowed use the Park. My knees are very tempted to believe him. And I’m really struggling to get over 10 miles within THE RADIUS.

Will have another go at running 50+ this week.

Sacksian

Finally, a 50+ mile week - 51.7 miles and my biggest week since early 2019, when I was training for a half-marathon.

However, knee is still at me so doing everything easy. I did 12 x 200m strides on Monday and the Tuesday run turned progressive but no proper sessions as such,

Monday - 33mins

Tuesday - 8 miles starting at 9min/mile accidentally working down to 6:30 pace over the course of 5miles up and down the canal. Fitness is definitely improving.

Wednesday - 50mins up and down the canal, .Had to stop a few times towards the end as my calf was stiffening up (I think due to the camber on the canal).

Thursday - 45mins creaky - calf at me, knee better.

Friday - 7miles in 59mins - calf still tight. A canal-free hour, with a few laps of Clonturk Park (opposite Tolka Park), which is really just a football pitch.

Saturday - another 8 miles.

Sunday - 90 mins around 8min/mile. My average HR was 119bpm so fitness is definitely coming back to me.

I’m just doing easy running but all my runs are on empty and I’m finding that a lot easier than normal. I’m also concentrating on keeping my cadence up and not letting my legs reach out as much as I normally would (probably due to a combination of very tight hips and laziness) and I’m noticing that this allows my body to loosen up as I get into the run and my form towards the end of runs is improving. The accidentally progressive nature of tuesday's run and my hr today tells me my fitness is getting there.

I’m going to try and keep adding bits of distance to the start and end of runs to see if I can get closer to 60mpw without pushing too much. Obviously, a proper long run or a session with decent warm-up/down would also get my mileage up but I'll try to get to 50+ off single runs consistently. I might add in some higher aerobic running but for the next month I don’t think I’ll be doing anything more than interval miles at marathon hr or ks at lt. Would love to be going back into club sessions fit. I suspect a lot will be!

KSU

Sacksian wrote: »

I’m just doing easy running but all my runs are on empty and I’m finding that a lot easier than normal. I’m also concentrating on keeping my cadence up and not letting my legs reach out as much as I normally would (probably due to a combination of very tight hips and laziness)

Pretty good short (for those of us lazily inclined) mobility routine here with alot of work around the hip capsule the tends to really free up tight hips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59oCr6ds0As

Sacksian

KSU wrote: »

Pretty good short (for those of us lazily inclined) mobility routine here with alot of work around the hip capsule the tends to really free up tight hips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59oCr6ds0As

Cheers Luke - application is an issue for me, no matter how short the routine! The only things that stuck have been the Jay Dicharry stuff, mainly because a lot of his exercises function as both diagnostic/remedy so I tend to go to them when I'm trying to figure out if I'm beginning to break again!

IvoryTower

Always working the hips, i feel like it keeps me together! Hips and ankle region daily

Sacksian

I had started doing this routine (minus the burpees) a couple of weeks ago - and found it good. I really should just add it to my evening schedule.

https://www.velopress.com/jay-dicharrys-hip-strength-circuit-a-running-rewired-workout/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SubFlwNpUHE

2 ROUNDS:

Twisted Warrior, 10 reps on each leg
Butt Scoots, 20 reps on each side
Pigeon Hip Extension, 10 reps on each side
Glute Rainbow, 10 reps on each side
Standing Hip Circles, 5 reps on each side
Tippy Twist, 8 reps on each side
Burpees, 10 reps
Frog Bridge, 25 reps
Lateral Hurdle Hop, 20 hops

The single greatest contribution Jay Dicharry has made to my rehab, which I had been doing fairly regularly, is the chair of death (a diagnostic and drill).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-1-e435ag

Sacksian

Another solid week. MASSIVE jump in mileage from 51.7 miles last week to 51.8 miles this week. I didn't bother with a long run today so it would have been closer to 55 if I had.

Spent the week thinking about the road relays and also how much I would love to be able to run on grass (starting to enjoy the new routes and routine though, apart from the concrete).

Otherwise, mostly runs of an hour 7-8miles every morning at 6:30 with a slightly shorter run on Monday and a slightly longer one on Saturday.

Still no sessions, but I did do 8km of 4 x 1k steady/easy up and down the canal on one of the days, which dipped into LT pace (just under 6min/mile) for the 4th of the steady ks.

My knee seems better, it's not sore but the range of movement is slightly restricted so I'd rather stay cautious with it and not do anything too intense.

From here on in, I'm going to try and do a 4-8 x1k steady/easy up and down the canal or something similar for the next couple of weeks. And get a proper long run in. That should keep my mileage up and bring the fitness on.

There seems to more discussion from officialdom about easing restrictions somewhat at the start of May so, if I can bank as many 50+ weeks before then, I should be in a good position to ease myself gradually into faster stuff.

My original plan was to have a crack at a track 5k this summer so that's still in mind as a goal for June/July/August/whenever we're allowed out again. If I can get into decent 5k shape, I think a 3k and 1500m pb are reasonable targets.

Sacksian

Third 50 mile week in a row, although it’s also the second week in a row that I’ve run short on Sunday, instead of a long run, so I’m obviously not eating up the miles. I’ve seen more of the bits of Dublin that I like, especially around the North Inner City, in the last few weeks but the concrete is really getting to me at this stage (sometimes mentally, sometimes physically).

I actually expected to crack a few weeks ago and just run the 200m over the restriction to get me into the park but I’ve avoided it until now so I might as well keep going. (As it happens, it turns out I’ve been running over the radius anyway on my way back home through Cabra so I’ve managed to deprive myself of running in the park while also flouting the government guidelines)

Nothing exciting to report, another week of lots of easy running apart from one day that turned progressively into a steady run, starting at 8:30 m/m and then the last 4 miles around 6:35. Comfortable but I probably need more of those type of runs as a not-quite-a-session day when I get back to sessions. Also discovered John Paul II Park in Cabra which has some pitches so I might be able to do a light session through the middle of them.

Just want to keep building the mileage while staying consistent. And, ideally, not get injured. If I can do that, I think a few weeks of sessions on top of what I’m doing will have me in very good shape.

The knee is not perfect. That is as much as I can say about that, I don’t think it’s interfering with my running but I don’t think I’d fancy a concrete hill session with it right now.

Watching the 5k TTs with awe. Sometimes it feels like a huge effort for me to even run 400m at 5k pace in training, so I definitely wouldn’t get anywhere on a solo run.

Sacksian

Up to 56.5 miles last week. Again all easy with just a few steady miles thrown in on Tuesday + Friday and 30 minutes of running back and forth across a football pitch on Wednesday.

Managed to get back to some running on grass and trails on Saturday which felt so much better for my knee, but then tripped on a branch yesterday and hit the deck hard on both knees. Running home with blood streaming from my legs was not a good look during a pandemic. Both knees are now bruised badly but I was able to run this morning (although the cuts are a bit sore) so hopefully all good.

I was expecting this log to be providing slightly more interesting updates than this but I’m really enjoying just getting out every morning and running for an hour. Hopefully, it'll pay off.

Provided I don’t fúck everything up by busting my knees again, I could get up to 60 easy this week. And then, next week, I can start introducing sessions again.

There’s a hope of some racing in August. If I can keep up what I’m doing now, and get two months of sessions, I don’t see how I won’t be in or about where I want to be for 1500 and 5k by then.

Chivito550

Sacksian wrote: »

Up to 56.5 miles last week. Again all easy with just a few steady miles thrown in on Tuesday + Friday and 30 minutes of running back and forth across a football pitch on Wednesday.

Managed to get back to some running on grass and trails on Saturday which felt so much better for my knee, but then tripped on a branch yesterday and hit the deck hard on both knees. Running home with blood streaming from my legs was not a good look during a pandemic. Both knees are now bruised badly but I was able to run this morning (although the cuts are a bit sore) so hopefully all good.

I was expecting this log to be providing slightly more interesting updates than this but I’m really enjoying just getting out every morning and running for an hour. Hopefully, it'll pay off.

Provided I don’t fúck everything up by busting my knees again, I could get up to 60 easy this week. And then, next week, I can start introducing sessions again.

There’s a hope of some racing in August. If I can keep up what I’m doing now, and get two months of sessions, I don’t see how I won’t be in or about where I want to be for 1500 and 5k by then.

What's your thoughts on the possibility of Irish Masters happening? There's obviously a lot of people involved in the riskier category who would be competing. I see they've binned it in the UK.

This is supposed to be my first season at masters.

KSU

Chivito550 wrote: »

What's your thoughts on the possibility of Irish Masters happening? There's obviously a lot of people involved in the riskier category who would be competing.

This is supposed to be my first season at masters.

Worth considering that it is no justt the athletes that will present the risk. Sadly the demographic of volunteer officials will probably be the biggest stumbling block with track races happening this year.

Sacksian

Chivito550 wrote: »

What's your thoughts on the possibility of Irish Masters happening? There's obviously a lot of people involved in the riskier category who would be competing. I see they've binned it in the UK.

This is supposed to be my first season at masters.

Yeah, like KSU says, I’d say it’ll be the lack of officials as much as anything (age of officials could have an impact on xc and seniors too).

I’m training with August in mind for some sort of track race but I’m not banking on it - just to give me some sort of structure/focus.

Chivito550

KSU wrote: »

Worth considering that it is no justt the athletes that will present the risk. Sadly the demographic of volunteer officials will probably be the biggest stumbling block with track races happening this year.

Try telling that to Athletics NI

https://athleticsni.org/News/Athletics-NI-News/Summer-2020-Competition-Framework

KSU

Chivito550 wrote: »

Try telling that to Athletics NI

https://athleticsni.org/News/Athletics-NI-News/Summer-2020-Competition-Framework

There is a simple explanation here - £££££££££

Have a look at the issues around affiliation fee's with England Athletics and the regions at the moment as well as the hole UKA are in financially and will make more sense why they have to push competition to ensure they get membership fees coming in.

What they are planning and what actually happens I imagine will be very different.

Sacksian

Nothing to see here.

60 miles this week, seven days of running, with the longest run 10.1 miles.

All easy apart from a steady 4 miles in the middle of Thursday's run from 6:41 down to 6:10 pace. Hopefully, do that again Wednesday and, if that works out, possibly do either a steadier long run at the weekend or, because I'm really missing it, something gentle on the Magazine Fort hills.

Anywhere north of 50mpw again this week would be great.

I am a bit tempted to just keep going with the easy mileage, and if there's more feedback from the knee, I definitely will. Without any sense of when we'll be racing again, it feels nice to be able to take a long view for the first time since I starting running! It would be nicer still if my knee was 100% but at least I'm back on the trails. The 1.5 miles up to the park and back are the only running on concrete I do so I'm down to 21 miles on concrete.

Also starting to consider doing an actual hill phase for a couple of weeks in June while transitioning into workouts. The aim, as ever, is to be stronger coming out of this than I was going in. There's a hill circuit I have in mind around the Magazine Fort that I've never got right so would love to be able to have a few goes at that with a decent amount of mileage in the legs.

Not worried about speed for 5k or 1500m at the moment. I'll start introducing strides when I'm confident about my knee and the hills will leave me in a good place to start proper pace workouts.

Satisfied with the training at the moment, cracking my gait problems and the knee would be the icing on the cake.

Sacksian

62.1 miles for the week.

I really am enjoying this current period of running immensely - the structure is really suiting me. I mentioned in passing a few months ago how anything over 6 miles felt like a long run to me. Now I’m averaging 60-65mins of trails on empty at half-six every morning. This month *should* be a monthly mileage total pb.

I’m noticing that as I get fitter, paces are starting to come back to me without any increase in effort. So, I’m actually getting a bit nervous about starting back into faster pace work because of how much I’m enjoying the current regime. Once I start doing sessions, those 60min easy runs are less likely to feel as easy as they do now. And, historically, whenever I start to feel a bit fit, I get injured or ill.

This week was:

Mon: 8.3m @7:52
Tues: 8.3m @7:41
Weds: 8.6m @7:00 w/4 v. steady in the middle
Thurs: 8.2m @7:45
Fri: 8.3m @7:28
Sat: 9.3m @7:32 + 6x8s hill sprints off jog-back
Sun: 10.8 @7:37

All on trails in the phoenix park, bar the 1.5 miles there and back every day.

The 4 v.steady miles in Wednesday’s run were tough but manageable and I’ll repeat that again this week. The hill sprints were good to do and I’ll try to do 2-3 sets of them this week as well. I’m keeping open the possibility of another session (or a long run with faster bits) later in the week.

I also picked up some new daily runners, the Asics Gel-Noosa Tri 12 replacing a very heavy pair of Adidas stability runners (which I only bought because they were ridiculously cheap). I’ve been struggling to find a pair of daily runners I really liked since the Brooks Green Silence but so far these are very comfortable and I’m thinking of stocking up on them before they change.

I’ve been relying on various pairs of spikes for the past two or three years for workouts and sessions so, as it was the first time in a while buying new runners, I also picked up a pair of the Adidas SL20s for steady running. I haven’t worn them in anger yet, but they feel good- a bit tighter than the Asics but looking forward to trying them out.

Sacksian

It's very hard to be definitive about this but I think last week may also have been a weekly mileage pb (I think I've broken 60mpw - barely - about 7 or 8 times before).

Sacksian

63.1 miles for the week. A weekly mileage pb. 25 more miles for the month and I'll have a monthly mileage pb too!

Another solid week, with two sessions and a mileage pb with only one run over 10 miles. The extra session made a difference in fatigue on today's run (also need more sleep anyway), which confirms what I had been thinking about training loads.

Volume is not a problem, if it's all run easy. I'm getting used to running 8-9 miles a day at an honest pace (which is a sentence I never thought I'd write).

But, once I start adding sessions and I remember what it's like to do 2 reasonable sessions a week and a proper long run. And, for me, if I'm doing 2 sessions a week and a proper long run, the running in between has to be recovery, ideally short, or else I'm just building up a fatigue deficit that has to be repaid at some point, probably through inconsistency, illness or injury.

Which, for now, isn't what I need. I need to be comfortable enough with the volume that, when I start adding sessions in to the mix, I don't have to reduce the easy days too much.

As it is, I'm enjoying getting the mileage in, it's something I've never done before and I don't think I'd be able to resist jumping into a session when the club stuff is back on. I'd like to do this year differently, so I'm hoping to repeat this week next week.

This week I also added another mile to the steady run on Wednesday and did an extra session in the middle of a run on Saturday.

I brought the hr with me on Thursday and Friday, just to check what condition my condition was in. It said I was getting fit. Getting fast is a different issue.

Mon: 8.3m @7:42
Tues: 8.86m @7:44
Weds: 9.9m @7:03 w/5 v. steady in the middle
Thurs: 6.92m @7:39
Fri: 8.86m @7:46
Sat: 10.21m @7:02 w/ 8 x 3m30s steady off 60s continuous run
Sun: 9.98 @7:50

As usual, all on trails in the phoenix park, bar the 1.5 miles there and back every day.

Thoughts are turning to August + September.

So, I've been having a look at what my final/peaking session is going to be (probably for 1500m) and will start planning working back from that once I have figured that out.

Sacksian

65miles for the week and a total of 276miles for the month - which means another weekly mileage pb and a monthly mileage pb by about 40 miles.

Was short on sleep this week and really started to feel it towards the end of the week.

Mon - 8.8m @ 7:45min/mile
Tues - 7.4m @8:05min/mile inc. 6 x 8s HS
Weds - 9.8m @ 6:59min/mile w/5 v.steady miles in the middle
Thurs - 8.4m @7:45min/mile
Friday - 8.8m @ 7:45min/mile
Saturday - 10.7m @7:02min/mile w/ 8 x 3m30s steady off 60s continuous run
Sunday - 11m @7:55min/mile

The 5 steady miles on Wednesday were avg@6:18 which felt very similar to last week's 6:25 average - 7s a mile improvement over any distance is not to be sniffed at so I'll take that as a good sign.

I was conscious that Saturday's session felt a lot tougher towards the end that it did last week. The main difference was that I hit the 'on' bits harder this week - which makes the recovery parts slower and the 2nd half a lot harder. In future, I'll keep the 'on'/'off' differential a bit smaller i.e. more like last week's than this week's.

So, what to do next?!

I haven't quite decided yet what I'll be doing but the next 4 weeks should see a lot more hills and sessions with hills. I've been actively concentrating on keeping my cadence up for the past two months, purely for injury prevention (it's the only value displayed on my watch at the moment) and it's definitely helped with the toll on the body from the big bumps in mileage. Now I have to get some pop back into my stride, which is what I'm hoping the hills will help with.

I'd like to take a bit of a down week next week but we'll see how that goes. Might put some actual dates + sessions into a calendar after next week.

I know if I take the foot off the gas, I could easily slip down to 20mpw so I'll probably just concentrate on getting out every day for 45mins or so on non-session days rather than the 60-68mins I've been doing, which should keep weekly mileage above 50 up until August.

Definitely need to keep catching up with sleep.

Sacksian

A down week that ended with a bit of a downer training-wise. 56 miles for the week.

Monday to Friday was all easy.

Monday - 6.1 @ 7:47
Tuesday - 6.8 @ 7:53 inc 6 x 12s HS off jog-back
Wednesday - 8.8 @7:43 (felt a bit beat up during this I remember)
Thursday - 8.8 @7:27 (included a few 5s surges at the start of every k, which is why the pace is a little faster, as well as the lack of session)
Friday - 5.3 @8:13 inc a bit of random hills + bounding

Plan was just to get through the week with a view to adding hills over the next couple of weeks. However, I got a text during the week that we were going to try a socially-distanced club session (i.e. a group of 4). It’s a bit of a dilemma that I’d rather not have, to be honest.

I’ve been enjoying the easy stuff of recent months but having other people to push me is probably what I need to run 1500m/5000m pbs this year and a dedicated middle-distance group would help that.

So, Saturday was my first proper interval workout since the first week in MARCH!

12 x 400m off 60s active recovery (60s of shuffling around rather than a proper "jog" as such). Strong wind on the polo grounds - which meant a tail-wind on odds and head-wind on evens but, apart from 5+6, they were pretty consistent. Three of us doing the session, taking turns leading them out.

12 x 400m @ 76: 77 / 77 / 76 / 76 / 72 / 79 / 74 / 76 / 75 / 76 / 75 / 75

I was happy with that at the end - and hoping that’s close enough to current 3000m pace, so any progression with that over the next couple of months gets me into pb territory. Sticking on racers/spikes on a track, rather than my everyday shoes on grass, would be worth a second a rep but not too worried about paces right now.

What I did notice is that, after a lot of weeks of just easy running / nothing faster than 6min pace, it was harder to get up to speed. But, more encouragingly, after a few months of 50+ miles I could probably have squeezed another couple of reps out. I didn’t feel fast but I was able to keep going without much extra distress. So, maybe there is something to this mileage business.

We finished it up with some *fast* strides/sprints.

Sunday was 10.7 @ 7:57 - this was, for the most part, lovely. I stuck the HR on and, while I’m sure it’s a little generous, it had me at 118bpm average for the run, which is what it felt like.

Unfortunately, my sciatica is at me after yesterday’s session and was starting to kick in at the end of the long run - it’s something I’ve been getting for about 5 or 6 years now.

When I first started getting it, I thought it was hamstring DOMs or a slight hamstring strain but it’s a back problem that presents itself as a hamstring issue / hamstring strain and occasionally turns into a calf/achilles problem when left to fester - basically the glute stops doing what it's supposed to and the calf ends up taking a lot of strain, getting overworked and the whole right leg goes (more) out (than it is at the best of times).

So, I’ve been managing it fairly well in recent years but I haven’t had to worry about it with all the easy stuff for so long, and I just didn’t warm-up properly yesterday or stretch properly when I got home.

As long as it’s not getting worse, I’ll keep running easy but I might have to take the week off sessions, which would be a shame, especially with all the work I’ve put in the last couple of months.

I don't want to start getting bounced into very taxing sessions because there's a long way to go before any race that I care about will be on the horizon. So, I might keep up the Saturday sessions and do my own thing midweek. Anyway, we’ll see how this week goes.

Sacksian

62 miles for the week…and hit 1,000 miles for the year on Wednesday (with probably about half of that coming in the last two months).

Started off the week with the sciatica/hamstring issue and just stayed on top of it. It’s neural tension that feels a bit like a hamstring strain - tight quads and a tight back are a killer for it (which is what happens for me after interval sessions early in the season), so my go-to-routine now is: rolling out the quads, doing lots of hip stretches, not stretching the hamstring but keeping an eye on its range of motion and distinguishing where restriction is coming from, along with some very basic glute, calf and hamstring stuff every day.

It meant I could still run everyday but up until Thursday the hamstring was still too restricted to do anything quick. And I was then able to do the session on Saturday:

Monday - 8.8 @ 7:52
Tuesday - 8.8 @ 7:49
Wednesday - 8.8 @7:35
Thursday - 8.8 @7:57
Friday - 7.8 @7:54

Saturday: 14 x 400m off 55s-60s active recovery

K around the Polo Grounds in 3:45 to warm-up and then:

14 x 400m @ 74: 73 / 78 / 73 / 77 / 73 / 75 / 72 / 76 / 72 / 74 / 72 / 75 / 73 / 70

Backwards wind on the Polo Grounds (meaning a tail-wind on odds and head-wind on evens). Overall, very happy with that - although I was massively helped by having someone else lead out every rep! Which is the benefit of group sessions I guess. I was wearing my xc spikes too.

Having just run easy - not even a stride - for the entire week, it was great to see the strength that’s come from the mileage. Worst case scenario, it’s 3k pace.

With a session like this, I want my last split to be my fastest (and to be comfortable doing that), so a good session. Will be interesting to see how the sessions progress. They’re not an end to themselves so they need to! Will be some sort of change up in the session next week so looking forward to whatever that is.

Sunday was a very leisurely 8.8 @ 8:13

There’s no sign of the hamstring/sciatica so it’s definitely the maintenance stuff that makes the difference. DOMS may be an issue tomorrow. Would like to do some hills during the week but happy with the one session last week so will see.

Sacksian

Step back…

Monday - 8.8miles @ 7:50
Tuesday - 8.8miles @ 7:45
Wednesday - 8.8miles @7:37
Thursday - 8.8miles @7:25 inc an unplanned 20mins at tempo in the middle.
Friday - 7.8miles @7:54

Foot was sore Monday-Wednesday but it had resolved itself by Thursday so I opened up a bit on Thursday’s run. On Friday, I found out that the Saturday session would be a 3k time trial, which made Thursday’s impromptu tempo a bit ill-considered. I might also have made the morning run on Friday a bit shorter if I’d known.

Saturday - 3K Time Trial -10:03

I warmed up with a k in 3:43.

So, with prepared excuses of tiredness from both the Thursday and the lack of sleep for the week, I was already not looking forward to the time trial.

The morning itself was glorious. Big group down for it. The course was a wheel-measured 3k of 3 grass laps and a bit around the Polo Grounds.

We were sent off at 5s intervals (to maintain social distancing) in order from fastest to slowest. I was hoping to pace off the scratch guy who was just coming back from a lay-off. But the combination of his 5s head start and him doing 69/70s for the first 400 put paid to that.

I don’t like time trials at the best of times. If they’re solo, then there’s no one to push you and, if they’re not on the track or a wheel-measured course, you run the risk of over-estimating the quality of your performance (if your watch/Strava is generous with the distance).

Here, I had no idea who was near me and Josh was too far in front to work off but I had an accurately measured course…

I heard a split of 3:12 for the first k, which was basically what I was hoping for - to end up somewhere in the 9:40s or low 9:50s - but ended up with 10:03 so I obviously tailed off quite a bit on the 2nd and 3rd laps. As grateful as I am to my watch and Strava giving me 9:42 for the 3000m, I think I’ll have to go with the measured course!

I haven’t seen the final results and there could well have been one or two starting behind me who ultimately covered the 3000m faster but I crossed the line in the position I started. I would have preferred to run with some of the guys starting after me, rather than run solo but, for all the excuses, the end result is that I’m disappointed with the time and, rather than trying to contextualise or rationalise, I need to put the base work and easy miles I’ve done in the past few months to some use if I’m going to get close to the 9:10s this summer. Speed endurance matters.

Followed up the time-trial (after a 10-15min break) with 3 laps of 100m on / 100m off around the Polos which was just under 2 miles at about 6:11 min/mile pace.

Sunday 77mins @7:51 - sciatica playing up a bit towards the end but nothing too bad.

Status Check….

I have one of three simple reactions to results: I’m either ‘happy’, ‘satisfied' or ‘disappointed'. Even with ‘happy’, I can’t think of more than 2 or 3 races where I didn’t think I could have eked out an extra second or tenth of a second, an easier win or a better run. So, the ‘happy’ reactions generally involve a little bit of regret too. But that’s moderated by a pb or a medal or a good placing.

In the last year or so, I’m finding myself being ‘satisfied’ with too many races and I’ve noticed the criteria I’m using to interpret a result as ‘satisfying’ is widening: back from break, interrupted training, no speed work, not the focus, not my distance, etc. In reality, most of the time, a ‘satisfied’ result is just a ‘disappointed’ that I’ve managed to successfully rationalise.

So, my two takeouts from this week and Saturday in particular are that a) I need to start looking at my watch at least once or twice when there’s no clock because the difference of having a 10 rather than a 9 in my result from Saturday is really annoying me and, under those circumstances, it’s stupid not to. And b) I need to take the intensity of training up a notch if I’m to get close to the targets I have for the summer.

June’s coming to an end and, while it will be a third good month of mileage behind me, the track season is closing in and I’ve barely started preparing for it.

Shoot me if I post in this log next weekend and I’ve run only one session in 7 days of running.

pconn062

In a regular year with the track season starting in May/June I think you would be very happy to be in the position you are in now with 3 very solid months of base building done and no injury interruptions really. And there's plenty of time until August/September races. It's looking good now for when you start introducing more quality work. What's the focus event for the year? 1500m?

Sacksian

pconn062 wrote: »

In a regular year with the track season starting in May/June I think you would be very happy to be in the position you are in now with 3 very solid months of base building done and no injury interruptions really. And there's plenty of time until August/September races. It's looking good now for when you start introducing more quality work.

I'm usually going into my first race in decent anaerobic shape though, so this year's different. I'm not worried but it is definitely a new thing for me to have run a lot and to feel a bit off pace.

I do feel fit though. I normally feel unfit but capable of pulling off a decent mile time.

pconn062 wrote: »

What's the focus event for the year? 1500m?

The focus event is 'general improvement'! And I'd really like to be going into xc not fried from track, which hopefully will be as a result of being a bit stronger too. So, I'll be hoping to do a couple of 15s, a couple of 3ks and a 5000m. I don't think there's enough time or events to do anything else.

I haven't really made a big leap in any event (my pbs mostly come from my first or second year at some event - from 800m to 5000m - with low mileage) and I'm hoping that all this aerobic work will give me some sort of additional stimulus. And, once I actually do them, that all the hills I've been promising to do will pay off.

So...

I would like a 1500m pb. My pb is from my first (and last, due to injury) race of the 2016 season and I ran within one second of it about 4 times in 2018 (didn't have a season in 2017, nor really in 2019). I'd like to take 4 seconds off it to get me down to 4:10, which seems really unlikely right now.

I would like a 3000m pb. My pb is from 2018, when I was mostly running 1500m. But it was a small improvement on my first proper attempt in 2014. I'd like to take 8 seconds off it which would bring me down to 9:12, which seems really unlikely right now (but possibly easier than the 1500m target).

I'd like to run 5000m on the track. I've never run 5000m on the track and I'm hoping that, if I run it last of the 4 or 5 races, I'll be used to running very fast and sub-16 will be attainable. Which, of all the targets, is probably the least likely of them all.

Dublin Gradeds should be announced this week so the season will hopefully be two Dublin Gradeds (maybe 2 x 3000m), Leinster (1500m), Nationals (1500m) and Masters (5000m!).

The motivation for this plan is to be in something approaching 'good' XC shape in October, to be able to have a go at doing National Seniors XC and hit the National Novice in better shape than I ever have.

It's all very pie-in-the-sky ambitious and I made similar goals in 2019 and they went absolutely nowhere, so we'll know more by the end of July how ridiculous this is. But it would be a shame if consistently running 50-60mpw made me slower than inconsistently running 30-40mpw.

All this comes with the massive caveat "if I don't get injured", which is pretty much guaranteed at some point.

Chivito550

There's also NI Seniors 29th August and NI Masters 5th September if looking for more races.

Sacksian

Chivito550 wrote: »

There's also NI Seniors 29th August and NI Masters 5th September if looking for more races.

Thanks - the timing is good but I'd be happy with 5 to be honest and if the Leinsters have the open competition and seniors/masters in Morton, that'll be fine for me.

Chivito550

Sacksian wrote: »

Thanks - the timing is good but I'd be happy with 5 to be honest and if the Leinsters have the open competition and seniors/masters in Morton, that'll be fine for me.

Lot of confusion about the open competition both at Leinster and Nationals. I have a feeling that is for juveniles.